Heroine in Hiding
by ibuberu
Summary: She isn't called the capture pro for nothing. — Crystal, Red, Diamond, Emerald.


**notes** – This fic is heavily GoldCrys (I think?) but I hope I managed to give enough attention to the grass-dex holders too! Of course, the final fic's title is a portmanteau of the previous two fics. All of them beginning with 'H' was entirely unintentional on my part until this last fic. I'd definitely recommend you to read '_Hide the Guns_' and '_Heroine No More_' first. This fic is ties HiG and HnM together, whilst shedding some light on events we've seen and not-seen.

That's what the grass-starter dex holders all have in common, right? They're the sturdy/reliable ones that will always be there to hold their teams together. Like the roots of a great tree. Think about it.

* * *

**Heroine in Hiding**

"That looks delicious!"

Crystal looks up from arranging the cutlery on the table. She's pleasantly surprised to see Emerald peeking through the window usually reserved for Gold's head to poke through. She hasn't seen him in awhile, and she can tell that he's finally hit puberty (though perhaps 'settle' is a better word, because his growth spurt is only slight). His hair is still the same, as sharp as horns that frame the green jewel on his forehead.

"Em'! I knew Blue was coming back today, but I didn't know you'd be arriving so early," she greets him with a smile. "Come in through the front and join us for lunch."

The boy grins from ear to ear at the invitation. Instead of walking around Professor Oak's lab to the front, he climbs through the window. Almost proud, he lifts one blue pant leg to show her that he isn't using platform shoes anymore. He's as tall as her shoulder now. "Look Crys! I grew a whole lot when you weren't around," he tells her excitedly.

She pats his head, glad to see him smiling so much. Emerald has always been stingy when it comes to being happy. She remembers when he was ten and pokemon battles were one of the only things that made his face light up. Times have changed – for the better. She'll have to thank Ruby and Sapphire for taking care of him when she meets them.

The young boy surveys the food laid out of the table, consisting of a bowl of fried rice and a large serving of vegetable curry. "This smells great! You're good at everything, aren't you?" he says, sliding into a chair.

"Don't be silly, Em'. Yellow and her uncle prepared the curry. I just fried the rice. It didn't really need much skill." Crystal sets a ceramic plate in front of him before glancing at the pokégear on the wrist.

"Speaking of Yellow, she should be back with Red by about now."

Emerald raises an eyebrow with curiosity. "I didn't know Red would be in Pallet Town. I thought he trained up on Mount Silver all the time."

"Most of the time, yes. But he does take a break every now and again. Yellow was really excited about it we planned to have lunch together today," Crystal explains. She chuckles at the recollection of Yellow spending recent afternoons with her in the office, quietly counting down the days.

When she hears the front door creaking open, Crystal peels her labcoat off and hangs it on the hook next to the doorway. She walks out to receive her friends, exchanging pleasantries with Red, whose eyes start shining when he catches the scent of the food waiting in the dining room.

"Oh, hi Emerald! Didn't expect to see you here," he says when he spots the small boy playing with the tablecloth. Yellow walks in after him, waving as she takes off her hat and hangs it next to Crystal's labcoat.

"Um, I came over with Blue," Emerald coughs, stealing glances at Red with intense admiration and respect. Crystal understands why he must feel that way. Red's really garnered a name for himself in all the regions. Anyone interested in pokémon battling would probably look up to his ability – anyone in general would see him as a hero. Of course, Red doesn't see himself as anyone other than a trainer who likes to battle. Maybe he's the only person left who still thinks this way.

He remains modest and whatever fame he has, he doesn't let get to his head.

Crystal seats herself next to Emerald while the other two take the empty seats across them. She watches Red glue his palms together and whisper 'thank you for the meal'. Yellow follows and Emerald is quick to mimic them.

"Gold could learn a thing or two from you, Red," Crystal finally says.

The boy, who's scooping himself some curry, lets the ladle dangle over the table. "Where'd that come from?" he laughs. "Gold and I did pick up a lot of tips from each other back when we trained together."

"That's true," Crystal says. Too bad he only picked up battle skills, and not manners. She can't help but sigh. Beside her, Yellow squirms in her chair when Red pours some curry on her plate for her.

"What's the matter? You want some rice instead?" he asks her, moving to grab onto the rice-scooper in the second bowl.

"Eh, a liff-tle – !" she bites her tongue. "Just a little bit will do," she recovers and tells him, only to have a large helping shoved onto her plate.

Crystal could puncture the lovey-dovey atmosphere clinging to the room with her fork. Emerald easily ignores the two of them, like he's used to seeing two people acting so intimate on a daily basis. "Why do you think so much about Gold? I don't get why you like him to begin with," he turns to Crystal and asks, his voice almost accusing, as if he expects better of her.

Crystal rushes to defend herself, "I – I don't think about him a lot! And I never said I _liked_ him! Don't be silly!"

"Right…" Emerald snickers and Crystal has never felt so mortified – and with a mother like hers, that's saying something.

She's had to deal with so much crazy antics for the past few years, but being teased by a boy five years younger than her is something even she can't handle lying down.

"I like him as a friend," she asserts. In the background, Red makes sounds of approval as he shovels food into his mouth. "Gold is," Crystal pauses to find the right words, "he's hard to like and even harder to make sense of, but once you get to know him, he isn't all that bad."

Emerald rolls his eyes, and Crystal starts finding her own words hard to believe.

"Well, maybe I'm being too nice. But really, Em', he isn't all bad. He always helps those in need, and yes he tends to be too loud, and he doesn't always clean up his messes, but – I don't know – I've never been able to stay angry at him for long. Gold would never do something to hurt someone, he's just too– " Crystal catches herself blabbing, and when she realizes that three pairs of eyes are pinned on her, waiting for her to finish the sentence, her mind screeches to a halt and her voice jams in her throat.

"Heyyyyy…."

Everyone turns to the left. A boy wearing a beret sags against the windowsill, his mouth watering.

* * *

Diamond finishes up all the food with great enthusiasm. Crystal and Yellow's worries about having too much leftovers have clearly been unfounded.

"How'd you find us?" Em asks him once he's sure that Diamond is done guzzling down rice. He's cautious and confused – he must be thinking about how such a quiet boy can eat so much in so little time.

"I followed the smell," Diamond says with a contented smile.

"Where are Pearl and Miss Platinum?" Yellow asks.

The boy takes off his hat and sets in on the table before replying. "Pearl went over to Green's for something important, and Missy chose to go with Ruby to Goldenrod, I think. I didn't really have any plans, so I decided to wander around and look for great eating places. I'm glad I ended up here."

"Well, if you don't have anything to do, you can help Crystal out," Yellow suggests. "I won't be around to help her since I'll be, uh, I'll be going with Red to… "

"We're going to visit your uncle, aren't we?" Red reminds her, and Yellow nods bashfully.

"Sure, I still need to thank you for both our meals," Diamond says. The munchlax sitting beside him gobbles the pokémon treats Crystal found in the back of the cupboard.

"Can I help you too?" Emerald stares hopefully at her, and Crystal can't say no to his earnest green eyes. It's been a long time since he last came to visit her. She'd let him stick around even if he didn't do any work.

She agrees with the two young boys as Red and Yellow get ready to depart. The first instruction she gives her new assistants is to clean up the pantry and the dining table.

* * *

Emerald and Diamond get along surprisingly well. Crystal guesses that it might be because Diamond is so laidback. His company must be a breath of fresh air to Em'. Ruby and Sapphire drag him along on vigorous adventures all the time, so maybe having an easygoing friend will do the boy some good. Em' doesn't laugh at all of Diamond's jokes, but he gives some of them the benefit of the doubt.

She catches the two of them talking while they sort out files in the backroom at the end of the day.

Well, it's more like Emerald venting his frustrations (_'I can never find clothes that fit me!', 'Urgh, the other day I ran into this really huge guy and– ', 'Please tell me how you keep your head on all the time, I need that if I want to survive Ruby and Sapphire'_) to Diamond who lends an attentive and supportive listening ear.

It's sweet. And Crystal no longer feels lonely in the lab.

* * *

Diamond returns to the lab in the evening.

"How was your dinner with Pearl?" Crystal lifts herself out of the documents piled on her desk.

"Delicious!" the boy says. "Oh, but I think Pearl revealed that he likes Missy too," he laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"_Ehhhh!_" Em's loud voice rings through the lab. He appears at the top of the staircase leading up to the spare guestrooms and barrels down to Diamond's side. "Didn't you tell me you liked her too? Did you tell him how you felt? Did you get into a fight? What'd you do?" He grabs his friend's shoulders and shakes, anxious and panicky.

Diamond closes his eyes and rests his hands on Emerald's shoulders, patting them softly. "Don't worry, Emerald. I just smiled and left before Pearl could feel any worse. I think he feels really bad now… but I'm glad Pearl was honest with me. He's a great pal. And whoever Missy likes, I'll be fine as long as she's happy."

Emerald gawks, transfixed at the weight of those words. Though he makes no sound, Crystal can tell that he's overwhelmed by Diamond's patented wisdom. She is too. If only she could hold so much control over her own feelings.

She claps her hands once and serves the boys two mugs of hot chocolate and sends them on their way so that she can return to her work.

* * *

Yes, if only she could have control over her feelings. Maybe then, she wouldn't have felt so embarrassingly overjoyed when Gold asked her out on a date.

Maybe then, she wouldn't feel so much when she learns that he's been taking cues from three other people. When she realises that the date has been all just a construct – a plan of some sort to make fun of her, to make her believe it was all real and sincere and to make her react like a silly girl in love – Crystal feels a surge of emotions. Outrage. Shock. Hurt. But the strongest, by far, is disappointment.

* * *

Correction. _Now_ is the time when Crystal has never felt so mortified.

She starts kicking Gold, who's dressed up so handsomely for their 'date'. Midway through, she throws off her heels because her feet have started to hurt. When she's too tired to continue, Crystal thumps his shoulders with her handbag, but it's too small and it doesn't do much damage because Gold is still clutching just his legs and why – why does she feel so frustrated.

"I thought you weren't– I told Emerald and – " she chokes.

"No, I should have known better. I always knew you were like this, I just refused to accept it," she seethes and breaks at the same time. Crystal picks up her heels by their straps and storms off the Vermillion bay, battling against angry tears.

* * *

She returns home to the lab with ruined makeup and blisters on her feet. Emerald and Diamond are still there to comfort her, and she doesn't know how to thank them. She drinks the warm, filling soup Diamond throws together for her, and agrees with Em as he lists down all the reasons why Gold is such a jerk. She wipes her eyes against the sleeve of her labcoat, plucks the black dangling earrings off and fixes her old stars back on, and she's as good as new.

"I'm alright now," she tells them the next morning, but both Diamond and Emerald look unsure.

She doesn't know where they disappear to in the next few hours, but Crystal has always found work more interesting than most other things. She tells herself she isn't lonely or sad, and instead punches numbers into her laptop, tracking all of the professor's expenditures. She tries not to think about Gold and how he made her feel – so she worries about Diamond and Emerald's whereabouts instead.

Only after noon do they return, with two other people in tow.

"Crystal, are you alright?" Yellow runs to her desk, clasping her hat on her head.

Red appears behind her, tilting his head. "Yeah, Diamond and Emerald found us and told us all about it. Can we do anything to help?"

Crystal pushes herself away from the table and rises onto her feet. "All of you," she says as she looks from one person to the last. "I'm really grateful for your concern, but as you can see, I'm fine."

"Now, please, I have a lot of work to do." She places her hands on her hips.

"Crys, you've never had a lot of work since we started helping out here," Em points out. "Are you sure you aren't just occupying yourself unnecessarily?"

"I – That's not true." She shakes her head, getting flustered. Crystal lowers her eyes to the floor for a moment, before looking up at them, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. She meets Diamond's eyes, and his gaze is patient and concerned and why does she feel like he can read her? Like he knows that she isn't all that fine.

The tension in her shoulders eases, and Crystal feels herself slouching. "Maybe, maybe I just don't want to think about anything else. Maybe it's better this way," she says, chewing her lip.

"Red." Yellow tugs on the edge of his vest. "Why don't you take them up to Mount Silver? The air there is fresh, and it's a good place to go to for sorting thoughts out," she suggests.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea!" Red nods. He stops after a moment, doubt surfacing on his face. "But weren't we supposed to go somewhere together?"

The blonde shakes her head with a smile. "It's okay. Maybe next time, alright? You've been spending too much time down here. I think you need to get back up there to train or your pokémon will get fidgety."

"Yellow, Red, you don't need to cancel your plans for me," Crystal begins to say. "I'm fine, I don't need to go anywhere to sort out my thoughts. I need to stay here with my paperwork."

"It will just be for five days or so. You all need to come down again to watch Blue at the Miss Vermillion Pageant. Think of it as a getaway of sorts," Yellow reasons.

Crystal feels disgruntled because she's exhausted all her excuses to stay behind and lock herself up, and also because she feels her heart shift, the idea sounding more and more tempting. She remembers the last time she escaped to the mountains, just a small girl and her Chumee. She still has the scars on her legs and the sore spots on her arms to remind her about it every now and again. She'd learned a lot from her stint up there.

Yellow is determined about this, she turns to Crystal and reaches out to hold her hand. She's far too kind, and yet Crystal can't find it in herself to be frustrated by this.

"Trust me, it'll help. I'll handle the work while you're gone. I've helped you out a couple of times, I think I know how to navigate my way around the office."

"I'm sure you can, but…" Crystal trails off. She doesn't enjoy the thought of someone else (even sweet, hardworking Yellow) touching her precisely aligned files and documents. What if she doesn't find them in the same place she leaves them?

"Crys, let's all go together!" Emerald tugs her arm, and the concern on his face tugs her heart.

"And I'm pretty sure you've done everything in advance, so there shouldn't be much left to do, right?" Yellow adds knowingly.

Well, she does have a track record for taking sudden naps in the afternoon. Maybe one week will be alright.

* * *

The trek up the mountain path already makes her feel better. Even though Crystal's bagpack is weighing down on her shoulders, she feels lighter than she's ever been in the past two days. It's been far too long since she's left the lab. The sensation of going on a journey – even one this short – makes her feel like a pokémon trainer again.

She keeps up with the even pace that Red sets, ducking under branches and clambering up rocky pathways, Diamond and Em lagging behind every now and again. They stop for a couple of rests along the route before they reach their destination – the middleground between the base and the summit of the mountain.

"This is a good place to set up camp," Red decides, slipping the bag off his shoulders and scrutinizing the immediate area. The breeze up here isn't too strong, but Crystal can tell that temperatures could get frightfully low during the night. There are multiple caves carved into the mountain, and Red quickly deduces which one they can take shelter in.

"Hope you guys don't mind zubats," he tells them as he leads their group into the cave, pointing up at its slumbering residents. "As long as we don't bother them, we should be fine."

Em' quickly sheds his belongings, the clinking and clanking causing Red to jolt and look up to make sure the zubat are still sound asleep. The young blond boy rushes to Crystal's side. "Can we start practicing capturing skills? I've still got a lot to learn from you but I've really improved, Crys! Let me show you!" His excitement rubs off on her, and Crystal feels an old spark kindling in her heart. It's been a long time since she last captured something – she completed the current pokédex about two years ago.

She jogs outside with him, unzipping her bag and letting a variety of balls roll out. Like the meeting of dear, old friends after such a long absence – she remembers all their names and their functions, the way they feel in her hand and on her toes.

"Alright." She detaches Arckee's and Mega's pokéballs from her wristbands. "Let's begin with target practice!"

* * *

Diamond and Red sit aside as she coaches Emerald, the two of them amazed by her precision as she fires pokéball after pokéball on the targets Mega and Arckee wear.

"That's – incredible!" Diamond says as he snacks on a riceball.

"I'll never get used to how cool that is," Red agrees.

"I guess you could say that we get a kick out it!" the young boy chimes.

* * *

At the end of the first day, Red and Diamond return to the cave, where Crystal and Emerald are prepping a simple dinner.

"Listen to this, listen to this!" Red waves at them. "In exchange for teaching him some tactics, Diamond taught me how to tell a joke!"

Crystal spoons the stew into the four plastic bowls, not quite believing that The Champion could get so thrilled over such a small matter. Still, she blinks and urges the boy on with a small gesture of her spoon.

"When you think about pokémon!" Red begins, puffing his chest out.

Diamond joins his side, "When you think about pokemon…"

"You think about battles, right? Just now we were fighting against a seaking near the waterfall, and it was massive!"

"Yeah, that was the highlight of the day!"

"It was really feisty, and it caught us by surprise…"

"I almost fell off Red's Poliwrath when it jumped out of the water!"

"Yeah, I've been training here for so long, and pokémon are hardly that aggressive."

"I guess it was just _seeking_ for a good fight!"

The cave is silent for a few excruciating seconds. After awhile, Crystal hears quiet chattering.

"…. _What the hell was that?_" Emerald bellows.

The chattering grows louder and fills the cave, and the four of them look up to see the zubat springing to life, unfolding their wings and screeching.

Crystal grabs onto Emerald as they dive to the floor and duck their heads.

"See? Even they didn't like your joke!" the boy shouts over the flurry of wingbeats. "I bet they're not gonna' come back after hearing that!"

And the zubats never did.

* * *

Crystal didn't know she would enjoy herself so much up here. With no responsibilities or deadlines or dumb boys to worry about, her heart floats in her chest and she can spend time doing what she loves: capturing. She spends the day training with Emerald, juggling netballs between her knees and kicking fastballs at the elusive sneasel and misdreavus in the area. She lets the pokémon go soon after she captures them – but the accomplishment she gets in return, it never really leaves her.

Diamond spends half the time with Red and the other half with Emerald and her, but dedicates his time to scavenging for wild berries in the surrounding area. Emerald plucks up the courage to ask Red for a friendly battle, and Crystal umpires their match. She is both proud of Emerald's improvement in his battling, and awed by how Red has managed to continue pulling new tricks out of his sleeves, even after all these years.

Red leads them to the famous hot springs on another day, and Crystal calls out her entire team to guard the entire vicinity when she decides that she can't miss the opportunity for a dip. Mega abandons his post to join her in the hot spring in no less than ten minutes, but Crystal doesn't scold him. When the rest of her team jumps in, she laughs instead of frowns. Maybe it's because she knows that Red, Diamond and Emerald are probably the real ones standing on guard duty.

* * *

"Thanks," Red says on their last night on the mountain, stroking sceptile's long neck. The four of them are crammed into the cave with their pokémon out. Red says that it's safer to sleep with at least one partner out of their pokéballs, just in case wild pokémon ambush them while they're asleep. Tonight, they've all chosen their grass-types. Crystal feels a sudden sense of solidarity and belonging she hasn't noticed before, under the grand leaves of their friends.

"Huh? Why're you thanking us?" Em asks, genuinely confused as he sits against Red's venusaur. "I should be thanking you for battling me, and Crys for helping me with capturing, and Dia for not telling anymore bad jokes!"

Saur hums and closes his eyes. Torterra copies him, nuzzling against Crystal's back as he begins falling asleep. Mega's still energetic, and he licks Diamond's beret playfully.

Diamond laughs, "I should be thanking you all for helping me improve my battling. And for spending time with me while Pearl and Missy are busy."

"Well, I've lived up here for ages, and Mount Silver's like my second home, but I never really realised that it'd be so much warmer with company around. So, thanks." Red says with honesty. Crystal can tell that he's not referring to the tiny fire ablaze in the middle of their circle.

She tucks her legs against herself and folds her arms over her knees.

"And thanks for helping me take a break – from both work and Gold," she says, smiling to each of the boys. "I feel a lot better now."

"But do you feel good enough to go and talk to Gold?" Em' asks.

"Wh – Why would I need to do that?" Crystal straightens her posture, already unnerved by the thought.

"Well, you two need to make up, yeah? You have an important friendship with him," Diamond says. "The longer you wait, the harder it'll be, I think."

"Yes, but…" Crystal doesn't know how to respond.

"I'm sure Gold wasn't thinking straight that time," Red says with a chuckle. "He'll come around. He always does. You should give him a chance."

"And I'll forgive him again, right? Because that's just who I am, Miss Forgiving, Miss Doormat," Crystal sighs. She wonders why she's getting relationship advice from three single boys.

"Nah." Em wipes his nose with his sleeve. "That's not the reason."

Crystal thinks about it, and – yes – even though she still doesn't know the reason why she can't stay mad at Gold, she knows that this is not it.

"What is it, then?" Red is the one that asks this question.

Em' furrows his brow and stares at his senior. "You're seven years older than me. How can you not understand what's so obvious?"

Red cups his chin and reflects, but can't find an answer to give. Emerald groans and Diamond offers him an extra bowl of stew to cheer him up.

Crystal's laughter causes them all to look at her.

"Nothing. Just – thank you. I think I can go back down to Kanto now," she says through her smile.

* * *

Red parts with them at the gantry of Virdian City, promising to meet them at Vermillion with Yellow. Crystal, Diamond and Emerald decide to go back to the lab to wash up and get ready to attend the show later that night.

"Crys, we need to go and get something from the pokémart, can you wait for us here?" Em asks, gesturing to the store around the corner on the other side of the street.

"Sure."

She watches Diamond and Emerald cross the road, and leans against the wall, thinking about what she should wear to Vermillion. She needs to get home and change out of her red shirt and yellow bike shorts – and her jacket's all sorts of dirty from the trip on Mount Silver. She'll have to wash it too.

Crystal hears footsteps approaching, and she looks up expecting to see the two boys.

Instead, Gold is standing in front of her, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Crystal inhales sharply through her nose, and the sound she makes is humiliating. Gold doesn't seem to notice. He just stares at her, as if to make sure she isn't planning on running away. She remains rooted on the spot, too frazzled to move.

"Sorry," Gold says without hesitation. Crystal peers over his shoulder, wondering if he's got any more backup this time round.

"I'm alone! Geez," the boy tells her, sulking. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. I was just happy. You know how it is."

Crystal does. She knows Gold so well – so much to the extent that she can't bring herself to dislike him, because she knows why he acts the way he does, knows that he is clumsy with his emotions, but never insincere. She learns this after all this time with him, and if she can ever fool herself into thinking that Gold means nothing to her, well, then she isn't as smart as everyone says she is.

This is the reason Em was talking about.

The girl takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. Gold is waiting for her reply, every muscle in his body pulled taunt.

"Alright," she says softly. "I forgive you."

Gold crumples onto his knees, relaxing and sighing with relief. "Great! I'm glad I listened to Sapph's advice."

"What was that about, anyway? A prank?" she asks him, suspicious.

"I wasn't pulling a prank on you! I wanted them to help me impress you, because you're such a hard person to impress! I wanted to make you like me! Do you know how hard that is, Crys? You spend most of your time nagging at me," Gold tells her, propping his chin on his knuckles.

She can't formulate a proper reply to this, so she just stares at him. Gold decides to continue talking, undeterred, "So I thought I could make it up to 'ya by taking you out on a date. A proper one, with no one else around."

"Well, maybe not on a date – I'm going with Red, Diamond and Em' to watch Blue at the pageant tonight," she says. "You can come along too… if you want?" she adds when Gold frowns, dejected.

"See? This is what I mean! Now do you see why I needed help? I leave you alone for awhile and then _bam!_, you've got all these other guys swarming around you already!" He throws his arms up in frustration. Crystal has to lean aside to avoid getting hit.

She raises an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?" she teases.

"You bet I am," Gold snorts.

Crystal hadn't been expecting such a direct answer, and her entire face reddens as a result.

"Oi, Crys?" Gold waves a hand over her eyes. "You there? Are we still going to that thing with Blue and – " it is his turn to drift astray before he can finish the sentence. Crystal regains her bearings in time to watch the realization spread across the boy's face.

"Shit!" he exclaims, holding onto his cap as he jumps on the spot. "I forgot to tell Green about the beauty contest! Silver's been egging me since forever." Before he can say anything else, he grabs onto her hand and pulls her along. "You're coming with me – we'll go to Vermillion right after we track down Green."

And Crystal has at least ten reasons to reject him. She's got work to do, she has to tell Emerald and the others about the change in plans, she isn't dressed to go out to the city, she's tired from the journey down the mountain – but there's just one reason why she lets Gold hold her hand, and that is enough.

* * *

"No," Green says when they find him outside the Viridian gym. He's closing it for the night, his jacket zipped all the way up because of the cold weather.

"Ah well, I tried!" Gold shrugs before turning to walk away.

"Wait!" Crystal grabs his shoulder to prevent him from leaving. "You're giving up that easily?" she asks, looking from one boy to the other.

"Hey, I can't force the dude to do something he doesn't want to," Gold explains.

Green seems to groan – of course, this being Green, it comes out sounding more like a refined grunt. "Of course, you only say this now."

"Well," Crystal huffs between the two of them. "That isn't the point here. The point is that Blue's been working hard for the pageant – Diamond's told me all about it – she could really use your support, you know?"

She looks at Green hopefully, wondering if her words are appropriate. She understands Gold and Silver as much as she doesn't understand Green. Gold and Silver have always been very expressive, only in different ways. Gold loves letting everyone know about his feelings. Silver is more subtle, but Crystal has learned that he doesn't hide his emotions well. She can recognize the slight changes on his face, his little habits like tugging at his gloves or brushing the bangs out of his eyes, in exchange for the words he doesn't speak.

Green, on the other hand, is hard to read. He never gives away any hint of his thoughts, guarding himself so expertly – Crystal admires him for that.

"Alright," Green sighs.

Crystal grins. She turns to look for Gold, only to find him already preparing to leave, his goggles secured and his mantine and army of remoraid out and stretching.

"Good luck with capturing that thing," Green says as he walks away.

Crystal opens her mouth, searching for the words to say.

Instead, she smiles and whispers, "Thanks."

* * *

This might be the toughest one yet. She's been trying since she was eleven and they were up against the Mask of Ice, and Crystal felt like they were up against the world. Still, she thought that maybe things would turn out alright when Gold looked at her – really looked at her and saw her as someone more than just a girl with talented legs, more than just the super serious gal – and held out his hand and asked, "Are you ready?"

But hey –

* * *

She isn't called the capture pro for nothing.

* * *

**extra notes –  
**- Timeline of HHH for everyone's reference. For mine too as I was writing this, ha!

**Week 1**: [Red coming down from Mt Silver, Blue returning from her trip with Sinnoh & Hoenn Dex Holders. Fire-dex holders infiltrating Green's house, water-dex holders signing Blue up for the pageant, Diamond wandering aimlessly and finding the other grass-dex holders.]  
**Week 2**: [Igniting the Flames Plan A and B, Ruby completing Blue's dress, Silver telling Gold about the pageant, Diamond handling his feelings much better than Pearl.]  
**Week 3**: [Igniting the Flames Plan C and D, Blue blubbering all over the place, Crystal blubbering all over the place. Grass-dex holders retreating to Mt Silver.]  
**Week 4**: [Gold apologizing to Crys, Miss Vermillion Pageant, peace at last]

- I'll be working on a short (?) epilogue chapter because no way can I leave Yellow out! She'll be sharing the limelight with Red and Gold.  
- Yes, Green told a white lie to Silver. I don't think Silver would let him live it down if he told him "Crystal convinced me to come with just one sentence."  
- I'm not sorry about the bad jokes. Not even a bit.  
- So we know that the fire-dex holders are total bros, and the water-dex holders are best girlfriends, but what of the grass-dex holders? I can't really label them, because they're all just… chill and calm and quite uneventful compared to the counterparts haha. I guess they just have a natural attraction to each other, friends with very different personalities coming together and clicking, like so many of us irl.  
- I'd also like to take the chance to thank you guys. I never think I can thank you enough for all the support you've given me through all these years as a writer. This is one of the results: me expanding on one fic I didn't really think I would, into a three-parter series and everything. I'm quite proud of this and I hope you've enjoyed it too. Thanks again! I always feel lucky to have such wonderful readership.


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